Amusement device



AMUSEMENT DEVICE Original Filed April 22,1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HEP/WAN FJ /(UZEL/ M MZW A TTORNEYS.

ct. 15, 1935. H KUZEL AMUSEMENT DEVICE Original Filed April 22, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 0 F'J'. KUZEL, M, J

ATTORNEYS.

0d. 15, 1935. H J KUZEL 2,017,099

AMUSEMENT DEVI CE Original Filed April 22. 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 3 I IN VENT0R 2, HERMAN Fl KuzEL,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES when PATENT OFFICE Application April 22, 1933, Serial No. 667,414 Renewed April 9, 1935 11 Claims.

vide an amusement device which affords not only the enjoyment and exhilaration furnished by the usual amusement ride, but also supplies the thrill and excitement of race.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described which the passengers can propel, if they so desire, but which wiil also operate independently of the passengers. A further object is to provide an amusement device having a plurality of passenger conveyors capable of relative movement with respect to each other and each having propelling mechanism which the passengers can operate.

Another object is the provision of a device of the above character which will provide amuse- -"ment and exercise to the passengers and which will operate safely over a long period of years with freedom from repairs.

Among other objects is the provision of a carousel type of amusement device which may be economically constructed by comparatively unskilled labor and which may be readily disassembied, conveniently transported and reassembled.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious, and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the drawings in which Fig. l. is a plan view of one embodiment of the present invention in which there are two passenger conveyors arranged on a circular track disposed around a central pivot;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view in elevation taken along the lines 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view in perspective of a manually operated driving or propelling means employed in the passenger conveyors;

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of a portion of one of the passenger conveyors showing a motor driven driving mechanism and a portion of the manually driven driving mechanism;

5 is a detail plan view of the bearings arms connecting the passenger conveyors to the central pivot and of the coupler ring used to couple the two conveyors together;

5 is a detail view in elevation of a portion of the central pivot of the bearings and arms connecting the passenger conveyors to the pivot and of a portion of the coupler ring used in coupling the two conveyors together;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of a section of another amusement device embodying a second modification of the present invention in which a plurality of passenger conveyors are arranged on a plurality of concentric tracks arranged around a central pivot;

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view of the modification shown in Fig. '7; 10 Fig. 9 is a detail elevation of a portion of the central pivot employed in the second modification showing the bearings and a portion of the arms used in connecting the passenger conveyors to the pivot and a coupling mechanism by which the cars may be held in fixed relation, and

Fig. 10 is a detail plan view taken along the line IEI0 of Fig. 9.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings and particularly to- Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6, numerals i and 2 indicate two centrally disposed cross beams which may be held in fixed relation by means of bolts 3 passing through the beams and through the flanged portions 4 of plate 5. Connected between the beams so as to form a circle with the point of juncture of the beam as its center are the segments 6. These are preferably formed of metal such as steel. An endless path or track I is disposed around the circularly arranged segments 6. The track is formed of separate segments 8 suitably fastened by bolts or other suitable means to the plates 9. Each of these plates is formed with an aperture through which the hooked portion In of the tie-rod ll extends. The plate 9 may also have a wedgeshaped portion (not shown) extending downwardly, which may be driven into the ground to help resist any shifting of the track. Such a construction would be desirable where a foundation has not been erected and the tracks are assembled on the ground.

The tie-rods I are formed with threaded ends which project through apertures in the segments 5. By means of bolt l2 screwed thereon, the tension on the tie-rods may be varied and the position and rigidity of the track accordingly adjusted. The tie-rods serve further to prevent relative shifting between the track and the central beam portion. It will be observed that both thecentral beam and track portions may be composed of comparatively small sections which may be conveniently transported and readily assembled and disassembled. It is, of course, to be understood that the track may be composed of wood. or metal, or any other suitable material 5 and that while in the accompanying drawings the track is illustrated as being arranged in a circle and disposed entirely in a horizontal plane, it may well be arranged in an ellipse or any other desired shape, and portions of the track may be disposed at an angle to the horizontal plane so as to give an undulating efiect to the ride.

Mounted at the point of junction of the beams and 2 is the pivot or central axis l3. The pivot l3 may be permanently secured to a plate I4 which may be bolted to the plate 5. If desired,

a hinge portion i5 may be secured to the centralaxis and a pin l6 may extend through it, and a similar hinge portion (not shown) fastened to the plate 5. The axis 3 may be held erect by means of a bolt extending through plates I4 and 5 on the side of the axis opposite hinge l5. It will be seen that the central pivot 13 may be conveniently disassembled for transportation by merely removing the-bolt and swinging the pivot ba'ckon its hinge l5 until it rests upon the beam 2.

Disposed on track l are cars l8 and I9 which will be described later. These are preferably provided with radial arms 20 and 2| extending toward the central pivot. Extending from the ends of both of the arms are prongs 22 and 23 which are pivoted by means of hinges 26 and 2'! to the split sleeve bearings 24 and 25 respectively. It will be observed that the bearings permit the arms and the cars to rotate about the pivot and that the hinges permit the cars to negotiate any irregularities in the track, or travel over any portion of the track disposed at an angle to the horizontal plane.

Attached to the radial arm 20 and the bearing 24 is the ring coupler 28. One of the purposes of this ring is to provide for locking of the cars it and I9 against relative movement. To accomplish this the ring may be formed with a series of apertures indicated by the numeral 3| in Fig. 5 and which may be located at any desired position. in the ring. A block 32 mounted on arm 2| is formed with an opening'through which the pin 33 extends. The pin is normally pressed by spring 34 into engagement with one of the apertures 3|. A cable 35 fastened to the head of pin34 extends along arm 2| to car I9. It will be seen that an occupant of car |9 may, by pulling cable '35, release the pin 33 from engagement with the aperture 3|. As long as the pin is in engagement with one of the apertures, it is apparent that the arms 2| and 20 are coupled together and the cars must remain in fixed relation. Any movement of one car will cause a corresponding movement of the other. However, as soon as the pin is withdrawn from engagement with one of apertures 3!, the cars may move independently of each other, because, as previously described, each car is connected by means of its own arm and bearin. to the central pivot. In order to prevent cars l8 and H? from colliding when the pin 33 is in retracted position, the ring may be formed with two lugs or projections 36. These extend into the path of movement of arm 2| when the car i9 is in either ofthe two positions relative to car l8 indicated by dotted lines |9a and L9?) of Fig. 1.

When car if! is in the position indicated at |9a, it will be seen that the lug 36 engages arm 2|.

Any further movement-of car I9 will cause arm 2| to exert pressure on lug 36 which will cause' a corresponding movement of car l8. Likewise, when car I9 is in the position indicated at l9b, any further movement of car l8 will cause a corresponding movement of car 9. The cars I8 and |9are similarly constructed. Each has a frame 4!) which is connected to a radial arm 20 or 2| as the case may be. As shown in Fig. 2, the cars are preferably fastened to the arms 20 and 2| so that they will be inclined slightly toward the cenmounted on two wheels 42 and 43.

tral axis. The seats 4| will accordingly be disposed at an angle. This serves to counteract the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the cars around the track. Mounted on the frame are. a plurality of seats for passengers, indicated 5 by the number 4 Each of the cars is preferably It is obvious that the cars will be held in an upright position by the radial arms 20 and 2|.

It will be understood that while, in the accompanying drawings the cars are illustrated as having but two wheels which are mounted on fixed axles so that they cannot be steered, any number of wheels may be used and one or more of them may be mounted on pivotally held axles so as to permit of steering. Each of the cars preferably has two separate driving or propelling means. In the present invention, a suitable mechanism is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 and consists of a motor driven propelling and manually operated propelling means. The motor is indi cated by the numeral 44 and is mounted upon two cross beams 45 connected between two portions of the frame 40. It is preferably electrically driven and may be connected to any suitable source of current supply (not shown) such as a storage battery mounted on the car or some external supply which may be connected to the motor by means of a wire extending along arms 20 or 2! and grounded through the track I. The motor is operatively connected to the driving wheel 43 by means of a driving chain 45 connected to sprocket 41 and driving chain 59 connected from sprocket 49 to sprocket 5!. Both of sprockets 41 and 49 are fixedly mounted on shaft 48 which is rotatably mounted on shaft 52. Sprocket 5| is'fixedly mounted on shaft 53. Operation of motor 44 will, therefore, cause rotation of sprockets 4'|, 49,.and 5| of shaft 53 and wheel 43, thereby driving the car.

It will be seen that because shaft 48 is rotatably mounted on shaft 52, shaft 52 will not be rotated by operation of the motor. Each of the cars also has a manually operated driving mech anism. This preferably consists of a plurality of oscillating cars or levers disposed adjacent each of the passenger seats. These are fastened to vertical shafts 6| supported by means of suitable bearings fastened in brackets 62. At the bottom of each vertical shaft is a crank or lever 50 63 pivotally connected at 64 to connecting rod 65. At the bottom of the vertical shaft disposed nearest the driving wheel 43, in addition to lever 63, is a lever 66. The lever 66 is preferably disposed at an angle slightly less than 180 degrees to the lever. 63.

It will be observed that by means of the above described structure, oscillation of any one of the levers will, by means of shaft 6|, lever 63, and connecting rod 65, cause the oscillation of 60 lever 66. The lever 66 has a link connection 61 to driving rod 68, which in turn is connected to crank 69 mounted on the end of axle or shaft 52.

Keyed to shaft 52 is sprocket H1 which is connected by means of driving chain TI to another sprocket 12 rotatably mounted on shaft 53. Adjacent sprocket l2 and fixedly mounted on shaft 53 is a ratchet wheel '13. A pawl (not shown) is mounted on the side of sprocket 12 so as to 70 cooperate with said ratchet. 'Ihe pawl and ratchet are so arranged that when the manually operated oars 60 are not in use and the car is moving, the pawl will not engage the ratchet. However, when the oars are oscillated,

the pawl will engage the ratchet and cause its rotation. Both of shafts 52 and 53 are secured by suitable bearings-to the frame M.

It will be seen that the manually operated propelling mechanism will operate as follows. Oscillation or" the oars 69 will, by means of levers $3, connecting rod 55, lever 66, driving rod.- 68, crank 99, shaft 52, sprocket 10, chain ll, sprocket l2, and ratchet 13, cause rotation of shaft 53 and wheel 43, thereby propelling the car. However because of pawl and ratchet 13 and because of the fact that shaft 48 is rotatably mounted on shaft 52, operation of the car by means of the motor alone will not cause oscillation of the oars. It will be further understood that any number of cars may be mounted on the car as described above.

The device heretofore described is the one disclosed in Figs. 1 through 6. It will be seen that in operation the passengers sit in seats 4| of cars i8 and 855. The motors are then energized so that both cars will travel at approximately the same speed, say two or three revolutions of the track 1 per minute. The passengers may then increase the speed by oscillating the oars 69. If they desire to race, the occupants of car i9 may pull the cable 34, thereby releasing the pin 35 from engagement with aperture 3| and uncoupling the cars. The cars are "then enabled to travel independently of each other. If the passengers of car l9 row harder than the occupants of car I 8, car ill will soon reach the position relative to car i8 indicated by ,dotted lines at l9a. The car l9 cannot collide with car l8, however, due to the lug 36 on coupler ring 6, which extends into the path of movement of arm 2|. The impact of arm 2| against this lug will never be violent, due to the fact that car is will always be in motion, regardless of whether the passengers therein row at all, because of the motor propelling mechanism.

If the passengers of car l8 row faster than those of car l9, they will soon be in the relative position indicated by dotted lines at 49a. The lug 36 will engage the arm 2! with the result that car i8 cannot collide with car l9. When car 59 is in position [9a, the passengers of that car can propel car l8. Likewise, when it is in the position i919, the passengers of car 18 can push or propel car 19. It is obvious that the passengers of one car can stop rowing and let the other car catch up to them so that lug 36 engages arm 2! and they will thereby be propelled. An undue burden cannot be put upon the passengers of the other car, however, due to the fact that the motor mechanism will serve to drive the cars at a determined minimum speed. By driving the cars at a minimum speed the motor mechanism prevents one car from blocking the track completely or from unduly delaying the other car. It is to be understood that while in the accompanying drawings there are but two cars illustrated, any number of cars may be employed'in the present invention.

Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. '7 to 10,we see that each passenger car is mounted on a separate track. The cars all have the same propelling mechanism as that previously described and illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. In

the center of the present embodiment are two than that of the previous embodiment and is fastened at its top to cross beams 8| and 82 which are supported near their ends on uprights 83. Extending between and fastened to the cross beams I and 2 are the segments 6' which, of 5 course, are similar to segments 6 of Fig. 1. Disposed around the cross beams are two concentric paths or tracks I and 'I composed of sections 8' and 8" fastened to connecting plates 9' and 9". These may be formed exactly as in Fig. l. A tie- 10 rod ll extends between plates 9' and segments 6. The tie-rod disclosed in Fig. 8 is slightly different from that disclosed in Fig. 1. At its inner end is a hook 84 which engages an eye in segments 6'. At its outer end it is formed with a hook I0 engaging an eye in plate 9'. The tierods serve to hold track 8' in a fixed position relative to the central pivot. Extending between the tracks 8 and 8 is the tie-rod i I" which serves to keep the latter track from shifting or moving. The tie-rod H is preferably fastened at its inner end to plate 9' and at its outer end is formed with a hook which engages an eye or aperture in the plate 9". Cars l8 and I9 are disposed on the tracks 1" and I respectively and are rotatably fastened to the central pivot by means of uprights 85 and 86 attached to the cars and radial arms 20 and 2| extending from the top of the uprights to bearings mounted on the pivot l3. Upright 8B is preferably shorter than upright 85 so that arm 2| may pass under arm 20. Fixedly mounted on the axis l3 are two collars 81 and 88. Immediately below collar 88 and fastened to arm 20 is a bearing 89 formed with a circular flange or extension 9%. Immediately above collar 81 is bearing 9|. Bearing Si is formed with an extension or projection 98 connecting it to radial arm 2|.

Fastened to member 96 is brake band 92. It will be observed that the brake band extends 40 around flange 99 which serves as its braking surface or drum. One end of the brake band is fastened to a pin 94 extending through member 96. Attached to pin 94 is a lever 93. At the other end the brake band is anchored or fastened by means of a bolt 95 to member 96. It will be obvious that if the lever 93 is pulled it will rotate the pin 94, levering the brake band 92 thereorL which, in turn, will cause the brake band to grip v 35', exert pressure on the lever 93, causing the brake band to grip the brake drum and in that manner locking the two bearings 91 and 89 together. When this is done, rotation of one car will cause rotation of the other. However, if pressure is released on the cable 35', it is obvious that the two cars can move independently of each other and, because they are mounted on separate tracks, may pass each other. Each of the cars preferably has the same propelling mechanism, as disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4. A motor serves to drive the cars at a predetermined minimum speed and the manually operated oars can be operated by the passengers to increase the speed or to race with the other car. In order to compensate for the difference in circumference between track I and track 1", the ratio which gear or sprocket l0 bears to gear or sprocket 12 may be reduced in car 19' so that one oscillation of an oar will cause the car to traverse the same proportion of the track 1 as one oscillation of an oar of car 8' will cause it to traverse on track 1-".

This may be accomplished either by reducing the size of sprocket 70 or increasing the size of sprocket 12. It will be seen that operation of the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 7 through 10 is similar to that of the device disclosed in Fig. 1. When the passengers are seated, the motors may be energized to cause the cars to make approximately the same number of revolutions per minute. The passengers may then operate the cars so as to increase the speed and, if they desire, may race with the occupants of the other car.

It will be observed, however, that in thepresent embodiment the cars may pass each other because they ri-de on separate tracks and also that the cars are'normally uncoupled. The occupants of car l9 may couple the cars in fixed relation by pulling cable as previously described.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and diiferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An amusement device comprising, in combination, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers,

means for driving said cars at a predetermined speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, and additional means for varying the speed of one of said cars so that the predetermined distance between said last named car and the adjoining cars is varied. v

2. An amusement device comprising, in combination, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers, means including a motor for driving said cars at a predetermined speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, and additional means operable by the passengers of one of said cars for varying the speed of said car so that the predetermined distance between said last named car and the adjoining cars is varied.

3. An amusement device comprising, in combination, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers, means for driving said cars at a predetermined minimum speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, and means for individually increasing the speed of each of said cars above said predetermined minimum speed whereby the relative speed of said cars and the distance therebetween may be varied.

4. An amusement device comprising, in combination, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers, means for driving said cars at a predetermined minimum speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, and means operable by the passengers of each car for increasing the speed of that car whereby the relative speed of the car and its distance from the adjoining cars may be varied.

5. An amusement device comprising an endless path, a plurality of cars arranged on said path, means including a motor on each of said cars for driving said cars along said path at minimum speed, additional means including a manually 0perated lever on each of said cars whereby the 'means including a radial arm and a bearing conspeed of each of said cars may be independently varied above said minimum speed, and means for preventing one of said cars from colliding with another of said cars.

6. An amusement device comprising a pivot 5 member, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers, means connecting each of said cars to the pivot member, means for driving each of said cars at a minimum speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, and additional means for independently increasing the speed of each of said cars so that the distance between each of said cars and its adjoining car is varied.

. '7. An amusement device comprising a pivot member, an endless path disposed around said 15 pivot member, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers disposed in said endless path, means including a bearing and a radial arm for connecting each of said cars to said pivot member, means for driving each of said cars at a minimum speed and ate. predetermined distance from one another, and additional means for independently increasing the speed of each of said cars and thereby varying the distance between each of said cars and its adjoining cars.

8. An amusement device comprising a pivot member, an endless path disposed around said pivot member, a plurality of cars for carrying passengers disposed in said endless path, means including a bearing and a radial arm for connecting each of said cars to said pivot member, means for driving each of said cars at a minimum speed and at a predetermined distance from one another, additional means for independently increasing the speed of each of said cars and thereby varying the distance between each of said cars and its adjoining cars, and means including a projecting member on one of said radial arms for preventing the cars from colliding. I

9. An amusement device comprising a plurality 40 of passenger conveyors, independent driving mechanism for each of said conveyors, means providing for relative movement between said cars, and means for coupling said cars in fixed relation whereby movement of one car will cause a corresponding movement of another.

10. An amusement device comprising a plurality of cars for carrying passengers, independent propelling mechanism including a motor for propelling each of said cars, auxiliary manually operated propelling mechanism for'each of said cars, means providing for limited relative movement between said cars, and means for causing one car to propel another of said cars when it reaches a predetermined distance from said car. 11. An amusement device comprising a pivot member, an endless path disposed around said pivot member, a plurality of cars arranged in said path, driving means including a motor mounted on each of said cars to drive said car around said path at a determined minimum speed, auxiliary driving means including a manually operated lever mounted on each of said cars for independently increasing the speed of said cars,

nected between each of said cars and the pivot providing for limited relative movement between said cars, and means including a projection on one of said arms to cause one of said cars to propel another of said cars when they reach a determined proximity.

' HERMAN F. J. KUZEL. 

